The cost of building green

How much additional will a green project cost?

Source: RSMeans Engineering Staff

04/01/2009

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When “Green Construction” is discussed, the focus inevitably turns to cost, as discussed in an article by RSMeans . How much additional will the green project cost? Some organizations are opposed to any additional first costs while others have some tolerance for additional expenditures.

The most prominent standard for green buildings is the U.S. Green Building Council . The USGBC LEED program has four levels of green certification: Certified, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. These levels represent increasing levels of sustainability.

There have been numerous studies aimed at comparing the cost of a LEED certified building to traditional designs. The average additional cost quoted is in the range of 2% to 5%. Based upon commercial building costs of $150/sq ft to $250/sq ft, this is equivalent to a $7.50 to $12.50/sq ft premium for building green. The majority of this cost is due to the increased architectural and engineering design time necessary to integrate sustainable building practices into the projects.

Another additional cost is for commissioning. Commissioning is the process of ensuring that the systems are designed, installed, functionally tested, and capable of being operated and maintained to conform to the design intent. According to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , commissioning can save as much as 40% of the buildings utility bills for HVAC.

Annual Salary Survey

Before the calendar turned, 2016 already had the makings of a pivotal year for manufacturing, and for the world.

There were the big events for the year, including the United States as Partner Country at Hannover Messe in April and the 2016 International Manufacturing Technology Show in Chicago in September. There's also the matter of the U.S. presidential elections in November, which promise to shape policy in manufacturing for years to come.

But the year started with global economic turmoil, as a slowdown in Chinese manufacturing triggered a worldwide stock hiccup that sent values plummeting. The continued plunge in world oil prices has resulted in a slowdown in exploration and, by extension, the manufacture of exploration equipment.